A huge crowd turned out to John Dunn on Sunday to witness Ryan Prosser’s magical milestone.
After 30 years of playing for the Kelmscott Baseball Club, Ryan hit it out of the park for his 500th game, becoming the first Bulldog to ever achieve this.
Ryan played pee-wee baseball and U15s baseball for Gosnells.
But he was always a Bulldog at heart, acting as bat boy when his dad and uncle started the Kelmscott Baseball Club in 1990.
His first occasion wearing the blue and white came in 1995, at the age of 15, where he joined his father Alvin, uncles Terry, Mick and Dave and his cousins Jason and Adam.
“As a player, Ryan was a middle infielder/pitcher and leadoff batter. Ryan was quick on his feet and ran all day,” the club said.
“In the field he was so light on his feet, that the runners wouldn’t hear him coming from behind for a pickoff.
“He was a pitcher’s dream. We had our picks down to a fine art. No words. No signals. We just knew. Ryan’s pickoffs while pitching were as quick as a snake’s strike. Blink and you’d miss it.”
Over the past three decades, Ryan has played in three premiership-winning sides, and quite a few other losing ones.
One of his best memories was taking out back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 with a team he also coached.
But his proudest memory came in 2019 when he took to the field for the first time alongside his son, Rhegan, who he coached through junior baseball.
Rhegan was there with him on Sunday.
“It was just another day for me, but I got to pitch to my son so that was pretty special,” he said. “And I got to share a nice cold beverage after the game with mates.”
In fact, the whole family turned out in support, with his oldest grandson, Keanu, taking on his former job as bat boy, and his wife, Kellie, scoring the game.
“It really was a proud moment,” Kellie said.
“And so many people came to support him. At one point I looked up into the balcony and honestly, I haven’t seen the club that full for a long time.”
And the man of the hour did not disappoint, giving up only 10 hits and eight runs over seven innings, and striking out seven.
In a turn of poetic justice, Kelmscott recorded a walk-off victory against Rockingham.
“It was closer than it should have been, but we came away with the win, so I’ll take that,” Ryan said.
After 30 years stepping up to the plate for Kelmscott, Ryan said he has no intention of stopping now.
“I’m 45 now, so I’ve been there a little bit. But I enjoy it. And I’ll probably keep playing until the body shuts down on me,” he said.
Photographs – Richard Polden.
